Uttlesford identifies five flooding ‘hotspots’ set to benefit from £1m emergency fund

17:42 14 February 2014

This photo was taken of Elizabeth Way, Saffron Walden, by Morgan James Opie last Friday (February 7). The road is one of the flooding 'hotspots' set to benefit from a £1m emergency fund.

Archant

Uttlesford District Council has identified five of its most serious hotspots which are susceptible for highway flooding, following the announcement by Essex County Council earlier this week that it was allocating £1m of emergency funding to tackle road flooding across the county.

These five areas where highways-related flooding is a recurring problem have now been put forward to Essex for consideration and review.

The five sites are:

• Lower Street, Stansted

• Newport Railway Bridge

• Elizabeth Way, Saffron Walden

• Outside the primary school, Manuden

• Church End, Great Dunmow

The county council has indicated that funding will be provided to help clear culverts, empty and jet gullies and remove debris.

Cllr Jim Ketteridge, leader of Uttlesford District Council, said: “We welcome this funding and are grateful that ECC has come forward to help tackle some of the worst roadside flooding we have experienced here in Uttlesford.

“An unprecedented amount of rain over a short period of time caused such severe flooding that the district has not seen in years. Some residents are pointing the blame at housing developments and are concerned that future housing will cause more widespread flooding as a result. While I can understand why people take this view, this is simply not the case.

“All major new developments have mitigation measures such as balancing ponds, swales and underground tanks to safely control the rate of surface water run-off. We and central government stipulate this in our planning policies.

“To give an example of how well such measures can work, just look at the newly created flood attenuation measures near Catons Lane, Saffron Walden, where large new balancing ponds have been created to take pressure off of the Slade. This almost certainly saved properties in Bridge End at the bottom of the High Street from the flooding that has occurred there many times in the past.

“These measures were only possible with land and money from a section 106 Agreement with a housing developer.”

It is unclear at this stage whether all schemes will be accepted and funded, or likely timescales.

ECC has recently released information advising residents to take care on the roads, at http://www.essex.gov.uk/News/Pages/Residents-advised-to-travel-with-caution0205-268.aspx.